“OH MY GOD YOU GUYS” Coventry Youth Operetta Group close their 2016 season with the stunning Legally Blonde. As Elle Woods seeks out to get back her man, she follows him to Harvard Law School and unexpectedly becomes 'Legally' Blonde herself.

Libby Simpkins led the piece well as the 'blonde' Elle Woods and was accompanied well by her on stage tutor Luke Bingham as Emmett. Another notably strong performance was from Jess Dorian as Vivienne who really shone towards the latter end of the play.

Overall, proscenium's set covered the Albany's challenging stage well and with the lighting it created a really strong feel of the glitz and glam of Malibu, and contrasted well to be scenes in Harvard Law School. The band tackled the complex score well and kudos must go to the ensemble for their performance in the challenging Whipped Into Shape. Although at times it was a little overcrowded on stage, it gave a great effect. One special mention goes to the two animal stars of the production Indie as Bruiser and Pablo as Rufus as they smothered the audience with love - a nice touch.

As with many opening nights, there were unfortunately sound issues in the performance. This resulted in dialogue and some parts of songs being missed. Hopefully these are just some opening night glitches, which can be easily ironed out.

The strongest lead male was undoubtedly the stunning performance of Callahan by Nathan Routledge. After experiencing this young actor stun as Collins in Wing It Theatre's Rent, after tonight's performance I am looking forward to seeing where his career takes him.

Despite a few opening night glitches, the overall production was well presented with some strong performances from individuals, as well as the large ensemble – a production well worth catching before it closes Saturday!

I don't know if you actually watched this or watched a different show entirely but Nathan was no where near the star of this show his character was far to camp for Callaghan as he is supposed to be a well renown lawyer who hits on female interns, and the fact that you didn't mention the majority of the principal's who put on such an amazing performance is shocking you should be fired for this awful review because you miss out so much you don't even mention gay or European which has been said to have stolen the show with Matthew sweet playing Carlos and also you completely disregard the two main characters by saying they did well when they did amazing to play such hard characters, to go on and on about Nathan when you miss out people such as Rachel Fischer who was fantastic as Paulette is just ridiculous how this can be published I will never know.

Reply

Alice

11/11/2016 05:03:46 pm

There was a lot of talent in this show that has been missed out, Rachel Fisher, Maeve Dolan, Jessie Heard and Damien Edwards all shine equally brightly in their roles. Craig Garner-Beasley has done a wonderful job of jointly directing and choreographing and deserves a special mention and Libby Simpkins and Luke Bingham are two of the most incredible performers, performing their roles to an incredibly high and brilliant standard. There were mic glitches, but that was not the fault of the company, who were fabulous in the show despite the setbacks

Reply

Kate

11/11/2016 05:05:41 pm

To not mention the amazing direction and choreography is awful alone (while
I do agree about the slight overcrowding at times), but to barely speak about Libby Simpkins as Elle and Luke Bingham as Emmet is simply shocking! They both gave terrific, believable performances. Rachel Fisher as Paulette could have been mistaken for a seasoned professional and you didn't even mention her performance and incredible voice in your piece! 'Gay and European' alone is worth going to see the show for and that also didn't get a mention, all in all, brillIant show, terrible review

Reply

Dean

11/11/2016 05:18:00 pm

Chloe Megan and Libby were excellent in their roles as Margot Serena and Pilar

Reply

Megan

11/11/2016 05:30:14 pm

To think that you missed out so many characters. First off the performances given by Luke Bingham as Emmett and Libby Simpkins as Elle were fantastic and the fact you said that they simply 'carried it well' I think is a drastic understatement. You also decide to do an entire paragraph about Nathan who yes was very good but missed out dozens of principals such as Paulette, and the Three Delta Nu's who all had brilliant comedy parts and characterisation, as well as Warner who was terrific and Brooke who's physical ability whilst maintaining her vocals was a talent in itself. I just don't understand why you missed out such big chunks of an amazing show and didn't give amazing actors any credit.

Reply

Kathy

11/11/2016 06:04:50 pm

Nathan and Libby were simply stunning

Reply

Love Midlands Theatre

11/11/2016 09:51:47 pm

Thank you for your comments above regarding the review. We're sorry to hear that you feel some things were omitted or were unfair. But what's most wonderful is seeing all the conversation that it has caused. The beauty of live theatre is that you can see the same show but have a completely different experience of it and the hardest task for anyone reviewing is summing it up into something short and snappy. This review is in no way a negative reflection on the performance, instead the problem faced is when there is such a large cast it is hard to not just sit there and write down the names of every single individual involved. Using the term ensemble very much refers to everyone involved in the show and that should be something celebrated by everyone involved. Everyone is going to interpret performances differently and this is both the beauty and downfall of reviewing, everyone has a different opinion. But the end result is that it stirs a conversation and each of you have taken the time to write down what you enjoyed about the show and that's brilliant. The company will see this and be thrilled by how many people enjoyed their performance. When reviewing it is important to touch on all elements of the show - not just the acting but all the things that influence and play into that. It's a shame that people have labelled this review as 'terrible' - it is merely an observation of what was seen on one night and highlighting some key elements of it. The rest has to be left down to the audience to decide what they think. Thank you for sharing your comments with us and please be advised that we do take all of these comments on board. We're glad you enjoyed the show so much you wanted to share that with us and appreciate your input.